After staying pending for a decade, drive that had sparked violent protests in the past was executed within just two hours overnight, finally carrying out HC orders

Smart thinking and meticulous planning by law enforcers and civic officials helped in bringing down as many as 10 illegal shrines in different parts of the city on Saturday night without a single law and order problem, a precedent that might lead to a template for similar action in the future.

A joint team of anti-encroachment department officials of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Pune police and employees of the Dhankawadi-Sahakarnagar ward office swooped down on Chavan Nagar, Padmavati, Aranyashwar, Laxminagar, Tulsibaugwale Colony, Dhankawadi areas around 2.30 am and within a couple of hours managed to raze shrines that were encroaching public roads and footpaths without a single protest from locals — nearly a miracle given the angry mobs that confront government officials out to clear civic spaces of illegal places of worship.

While the majority of locals came to know about the drive only after the sun came up on Sunday morning, those who realised something was on, were forced to watch the proceedings from behind doors latched shut by civic officials with policemen posted right outside their doors.

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Talking to Pune Mirror, Madhav Jagtap, head of PMC’s anti-encroachment department, said, “Drives against illegal shrines are extremely difficult. The officers are always under pressure. In each of these cases, we had appealed to locals through public notices and advertisements to come forward with documents supporting the shrines before going ahead with the demolition. As no action was taken, we had no option but to carry out the drive with the help of police.”

“To avoid possible public wrath, our officers took the suggestion of the police and locked in the people while the drive was on. It was just a precautionary measure,” he added.

Most of the shrines belonged to mandals, trusts or were erected by people in their individual capacity. Some of them had been erected 30 years ago and were encroaching on a major portion of public place.

Yunus Pathan, assistant commissioner of PMC’s Dhankawadi-Sahakarnagar ward office, who led the drive, said, “We had to submit the report of compliance to the court before the deadline. A team of Sahakarnagar and Dattawadi police helped us ease the task by preventing people from stopping us. Earlier, two major attempts were foiled due to huge protests by the locals. We are happy that the drive completed peacefully with the precautionary measures taken by our team members and police.”

Pathan was referring to the Bombay High Court (HC) diktats about 1,500 illegal shrines existing within the PMC limits. Inadequate manpower, public protests, escalating religious sentiments and political pressure had been quoted till date to account for the failure to conduct comprehensive demolition drives. The joint operation of demolishing illegal shrines has resurfaced in the city after recent strictures by the HC against the PMC for suspending these drives for a long time. The court had asked authorities to submit a compliance report within a stipulated time or bear responsibility for the inaction.

Another officer, who was part of the team, on condition of anonymity said, “Most of the areas where these shrines are located feature slums and chawls. Earlier drives had taught us valuable lessons. This time we did not want to take a chance. Therefore, as per instructions from the police we latched the doors from outside. Those who were still not asleep and were aware of the drive were asked to keep quiet to avoid legal action against them. This trick worked and the entire drive was completed without any hurdle.”

“This target had been pending with us for the last ten years, but could be completed within just two hours,” the officer added.

Meanwhile, locals have raised their voices over the demolition drive. Vishal Tupare, a resident of Chavan Nagar, said, “The PMC team locked all 70 houses in the area while the demolition was going on. This is gross injustice as the temples were not creating any hurdle.”

Sudhir Lajurkar, who lives in Aranyeshwar, said, “Temples were built in the localities to provide protection to the umbat tree. Why has only this shrine been targeted? There were many shrines built on the main road, those should have been a priority

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